


Stuck On You

by chasethewind



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: 3x09 spoilers, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Love Confessions, Tumblr Prompt, Twelve Days of Fic-mas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-18
Updated: 2014-12-18
Packaged: 2018-03-02 01:43:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2795177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chasethewind/pseuds/chasethewind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anonymous asked: Prompt: Felicity is having a hard time letting Oliver go, after his return from the dead, please Love your works so much</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stuck On You

**Author's Note:**

> My gift to you this holiday season: 12 prompts I've randomly picked from my Tumblr queue that I'll be writing and posting every day until Christmas. Happy holidays, everyone! I hope you enjoy!

He doesn't notice it for a while. Maybe it's because he's afraid it's just a dream and that he'll wake up at any moment and still be on that mountain top, a sword piercing through his chest just before he's discarded like a piece of trash. She's always within reach: at the foundry, in the parking lot. She even goes home with him a few nights, strictly as friends so they can chill, as she puts it.

It's Thea who mentions it first. "Is she your new girlfriend?" she asks one night after Felicity accidentally falls asleep on the couch as they're watching some superhero movie.

"No, we're just friends," Oliver tells her easily, but then he looks down at the woman curled into his side and wishes they were something more. He had told her, with no uncertain words, that he loved her, but he'd also decided it was best to let this happen on her terms. She'd taken news of his death harshly according to Diggle, so when Oliver returned from the dead, she'd been overjoyed and, looking back on it now, a little overprotective.

The next person who asks is Laurel, on a quiet night in the foundry. She's made a point of making sure he knows she's not some damsel in distress anymore, that she can take care of herself. Her training with Ted Grant has turned her into a formidable woman, but Oliver still refuses to acknowledge she's the fighter she claims she is.

"What's with you and Felicity?" she asks as she puts down her steaming cup of coffee on a table near the training mats where he's taking a break from his sparring session with Roy.

"Nothing, why?" Oliver answers. He can see she wants to press the issue, but her response isn't what he expects it to be.

"Because I see the way the two of you look at each other, and I see her constantly hovering around you," Laurel points out. "Kinda makes me wonder if you two really are just friends, like you say."

Oliver surprises her as well with his candid answer. "We're… complicated."

"Complicated like you and I were or complicated in some other way?" she questions. "Because you've both been all over each other since you came back. Only, she's keeps her eye on you when you're not looking. I would have thought that by now you would have seen it and done something about it, but you're still distant."

"I just want to give Felicity her space right now," he says. "We've… We're still trying to figure things out, and I don't want to push her."

Laurel nods, picks up her coffee and turns back around. "Maybe you're the one who needs the push," she mutters under her breath, thinking he won't hear it, but he does.

From that point on, Oliver is more alert than he's been since his return from the island. He realizes that both Thea and Laurel were right, that Felicity has been a lot closer to him these past few weeks than he's been willing to admit.

When they're at the foundry, half her focus when he's down there is trained on him while the other half is typing away at her computer. When they go out to grab a bite to eat with the team, she's always in the seat beside him, her shoulder touching his. At Thea's loft, she always manages to curl herself into his side, snuggling up against him as she lays her head on his shoulder. And when he returns from mission, she's always the first person he sees when he descends the stairs, ready with medical supplies or a warm welcome.

Oliver is half tempted to call her out on her clinginess, but he stops himself. Felicity has been through the worst kind of hell, and he knows this is probably her way of coping with the fact that he'd been dead for six weeks and she'd had to move on with her life. The pain of losing someone she cared about wasn't lost on him. He thinks about all the people he's lost, all the grief he's had to deal with, and he can see why she's chosen to linger.

It's in Felicity's nature to care deeply for the people she loves, and with him, it's no different. She might fuss over him a little more than she used to, but Oliver can't complain. He likes the attention, likes that she hasn't chosen to pull away. Instead, she's gotten closer. Maybe she is being slightly overprotective, but he finds that he doesn't mind. He would rather have her close than at an arm's length.

It isn't until the night he comes back from a mission with a knife wound down the length of his left side that he finally chooses to acknowledge it. Felicity flies into action as soon as Roy and Diggle carry him down the stairs and seat him on the medical table. She scurries around the various cabinets, gathering supplies before depositing them near his hip. Neither of the others are allowed near him as she gently peels off his jacket and places it on one of the nearby tables then begins to assess the injury.

Oliver can see the sheen of tears in her eyes. She's bravely trying to hold them back as she grabs a suture kit and pulls out what she needs in order to stitch him up. And she talks the whole time she's doing it: scolding him for not listening to her, telling him Lance has already picked up their target, reminding him he needs to be more careful. That last part is said softly with something else added at the end that he can't hear.

"What did you say?" Oliver asks. There's no hint of anger or malice in his voice, just genuine curiosity. Her eyes dart away from the stitch she's looped and knotted to look at him. There are still tears in her eyes, tears she refuses to shed, but he sees them anyway, and instantly he knows what she's going to say.

"I've already lost you once…" Felicity mumbles, and her hands began to quiver. "I… I can't…" She's unable to finish the rest as her unshed tears finally begin to fall. Dropping the needle and thread then tearing off her gloves, she turns away from him and heads to her computers, intent on grabbing her purse and rushing out of there before he can see how much pain she's in.

But Oliver already knows, and he's hopping off the table, running towards her before she gets the chance to run. He grabs her elbow, spins her around so they're face to face, yet she refuses to look at him.

"Hey,  _hey_ …" Oliver says in that tone he's only ever spoken to her with. His hand cups her chin, tilting it up until she meets his gaze. Her words had struck him deep, making him think back to that day at his mother's election speech when he told her, point blank, that she wasn't going to lose him. It stings that he was made a liar for those six weeks, but he knows he can't let her think that way anymore.

"I'm sorry," Felicity murmurs, her eyes dropping from his once more.

"Shh…" Oliver brushes his thumb over her bright pink lips, effectively silencing her before she can say anything else. Her eyes immediately fly up to his again, and this time they remained locked on the blue irises. " _I'm_  sorry," he apologizes instead. "I know I told you that you wouldn't lose me, and you did, for a while, but I'm back now. I'm back and I promise you won't lose me again." His conviction is clear. He has every intention to stand by his words, but her tears continue to fall as her lower lip trembles.

Felicity nods. He knows she wants to say more, but for the first time since they met, she holds back. Her words remained locked behind pretty pink lips, unspoken.

"Talk to me. Tell me what's wrong," Oliver prods as his other hand comes up to stroke away errant hairs from her forehead away from her eyes.

She shuts them tight and swallows. "You were gone," Felicity slowly replies. "And I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to deal with it. I couldn't. And now that you're back, I keep thinking this is some dream I'm going to wake up from because that's what I did while you were gone. I dreamt of you, and every time I woke up, I'd cry for an hour because I knew you weren't here."

"I'm here now," Oliver whispers. Then he grabs her hand and places it on his bare chest, just above his heart. He can feel her fingers flex against his skin on instinct, digging into his flesh and holding on as they stare at each other. "You feel that?" he asks. "I'm here. You're not dreaming. I'm alive because you believed… believe in me. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."

Her bottom lips trembles even more now as steady streams of tears flow down her cheeks. His hands are there now, thumbs brushing away the moisture as her eyes soften and she stares at him. "I love you," Felicity blurts out. "I thought I'd never get to tell you. I love you, Oliver. I love you so much it physically hurts sometimes."

He's stunned at first. Oliver hadn't anticipated her confession. He'd assumed that she cared about him, but this? His heart begins to race in his chest but he somehow manages to keep his breathing even. He can't afford to lose it now even though he wants to sing with joy from the rooftops. This situation needs to be handled delicately, otherwise he risks losing her.

"I'm sorry," Oliver finally says, and the look in her eyes goes from hopeful to devastated in a second. He realizes the error he's made and quickly jumps in to correct it. "I'm sorry I've been a fool. I'm sorry it took so long for me to realize that pushing you away was a bad idea. I'm sorry for thinking I wouldn't hurt you if we weren't together. I know now that's not true. I'm so much better with you than without you, and if I could go back and…"

Oliver doesn't get a chance to finish. Her lips have crashed into his with such force, he takes a step backwards in order to steady them. Felicity winds her free arm around his neck while the other hand remains firmly rooted to his chest. His hands grip her waist before sliding around her back to bring her as physically close as possible. One creeps up until it nestles into golden locks, pushing the rubber band that secures her ponytail out of her hair and letting it cascade down her back.

They kiss for a solid minute, her lips becoming more and more incessant with every second that passes. Teeth and lips and tongue all but pry his mouth open before Oliver gives in and deepens it. There is no holding back right now, the screaming pain at his side be damned. He just wants to hold her and kiss her like this all night.

When Felicity finally pulls away, he rests his forehead against hers, a smile slowly dragging the corners of his mouth up. "I love you," Oliver whispers once he's caught his breath. He now understands why she's stayed so close and silently vows to remind her each and every day that her nightmare is over and that he still with her.

A smile finally touches her lips as Felicity replies, "I love you, too."


End file.
